Xī'ān

Xi'an is the county seat of Quzhou in western Zhejiang. It became home to the southern branch of the Kong family after descendants of Confucius followed the Song court south in the twelfth century. Their family temple preserved the rites of their ancestors far from Qufu. After Zhu Yuanzhang took Quzhou in 1359, he ordered repairs to the temple. In 1506 the Ming court granted Kong Yansheng a hereditary office to preside over the sacrifices. A new family temple was built on the former site of the county school in 1520–1521, with a residence for the family beside it.